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Genoa Fish, Not Salami

Updated June 5, 2013 9:46 a.m. ET

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Updated June 5, 2013 9:46 a.m. ET

By J.R. Brandstrader

We went to Genoa, Italy, in search of fish. We found them in The Acquarium, but we were more interested in the kind of pesce that ends up on a Genoese plate. It is not for nothing that 12 Century Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa loved "sea dates", a now protected type of mussel that grows on the underwater belly of the region's cliffs.

We arrived in the bustling Ligurian port just as the Slow Fish Biennial, a trade fair devoted to eating sustainable fish, was getting under way. Many of Genoa's interesting local restaurants go unexplored by outsiders; exhausted travelers don't have the energy to stray far from their hotels where they usually find expensive but forgettable dinners.

That's because the city is built on the hills and Apennine mountains that surround the harbor. Buildings are jammed together on raked slopes, providing the intrepid tourist with haunting rooftop views, bathed in golden Mediterranean light. But climbing the stairs to catch the view is sometimes brutal, and scaling the steps inside the medieval city gates had us gripping the rail for dear life.

The passageways known as vicos are often just eight feet wide, prone to sudden twists, making it easy for a cigarette-smoking Vespa-riding demon to dispatch you to the hereafter with no-one the wiser. Henry James called the city's Genoa's streets "the crookedest and most incoherent" in the world.

But that is the heart of Genoa. You never know what is around the corner. It could be a medieval tower, a heavenly chocolate mousse, or a puppet show. Or a delicious platter of freshly caught and cooked fish.

Families, who take a vertiginous ride in the Grande Bigo (a shipyard crane that hoists you high above the harbor in a glass cabin) often make due with a lunch at Eataly Genova, followed by gelato at Grom. Tasty but similar plates can be had in Manhattan for 30% less at current exchange rates. There is no need to overpay. A little hunting will locate platters of grilled fish, squeaky fresh from the sea, modestly priced in the port-side taverns.

Just across from the Acquarium, for example, you can enjoy a delicious meal served by the father and son team that owns Pesce d'Oro. It doesn't look like much at street level: just a small glass room with some tables and an outdoor seating area that is cheek by jowl with a busy parking lot at Piazza Caricamento. But the fish tastes like it just jumped from the sea, which it may have since Alfonso, the Elder, buys the fresh fish as it comes into the Pescherie Mirko & Davide, just behind his trattoria.

The sliver-thin shavings of raw salmon and squid were dribbled with lemon and surrounded by briny anchovies. The large shrimp were grilled; the lip-smacking penne, dressed lightly in olive oil and basil, was topped with crab, mussels, asparagus and a few chopped tomatoes. Cost: 64 euros ($84.39) for two, including two glasses of wine, water, and the coperto - cover charge.

Some folks in the yacht business directed us to Da Rina, their favorite for fish. Although the restaurant was still in the port, it involved a hike followed by a steep stair ascent, but the salt cod fritters, and snapper with artichokes were well worth the slog. The only disappointment was the minestrone pesto, which paled compared to what my husband's Genoese grandmother whipped up in her kitchen. Dinner for two at Da Rina put us back Euro 94 ($124.25).

A bookseller in Liberia Porto Antico helped us find Antica Osteria di Vico Palla, an unpretentious tavern tucked into a tiny vico in Porta Siberia, the stomping grounds of the young 17 century Flemish painter Anthony Van Dyke, who went to Genoa to immortalize Genoese aristocracy on canvas.

The painter would have empathized with our bewilderment at the chalkboard menu in the Ligurian dialect, but the mixed fried fish was crunchy and scrumptious; eating it among Italian families, gathered around wooden tables, made us feel as if we were part of a lively private Genoese party. We also loved the warm salad of octopus, calamari, potatoes, pine nuts, basil, tomatoes and olive. Although the fish was lightly fried, a little went a long way. Cost: Euro 59 ($78).

At first, we were reluctant to try a local woman's advice to sample Soho Restaurant & Fish Works because we can go to Soho anytime back home. Inspired by New York's cast iron district, the seven-year-old restaurant is all Italian. Located in a former fish market, it's sleek interior is full of tourists. There were Russians to the left and Germans to right eating large plates of assorted raw fish. We enjoyed the ravioli, steamed clams, shrimp and a pre-fixe supper in which each component contained some kind of shrimp. Devoid of Italians, we were surprised to find the bill not much more than the taverns frequented by the locals. Dinner cost us Euro 98 ($128.51).

Overall, however, the most special experience we had was a lunch at Zeffirino, "the pope's pesto maker." The Genoese restaurant run by the Belloni family regularly ships pesto to the Vatican and has been the favorite spot for celebrities such as Luciano Pavarotti and Sophia Loren.

Courtesy of J. R. Brandstrader

The meal was beautifully prepared and presented by a waiter who used his knife to dance the fish off its bone and onto our plate. The warm spring vegetable cake was a wonderful run-up to the salt cod, served with pine nuts and cabbage in a light red sauce, and branzino cooked Ligurian-style with tomatoes, black olives, capers, lemon and white wine. The pasta pesto deserves its esteemed reputation; the house wine was from La Spezia and specially made for Zeffirino. Whatever you do, do not leave without trying the chocolate mousse. Cost: Euro 126 ($166.54). The Prosecco aperitifs and closing grappas were on the house.

We only touched on the hidden culinary treasures, of course, so next time you are in the old port, save time for the rest of Genoa. You'll be surprised by the richness of what you will find – at reasonable cost.

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